


Something About Us

by whatamidoingeven



Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: F/F, eventual side pairings, recording studio au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-10
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-04 02:42:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1763221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatamidoingeven/pseuds/whatamidoingeven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love and life are symphonies, movements, and even the best composers need more than themselves to make it through.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something About Us

**Author's Note:**

> Recording Studio AU. Who does what in the studio will be sorted through in the fic itself. This takes place in a world where the whole life fiber crisis didn't happen, and takes place when the characters are older and out of college. The characters also did not grow up in the same circumstances as in canon.

A slow, smooth beat welcomes Nonon as she enters Studio B, the third studio to the left in the Orange Records building. The building itself is a tall presence, and it passes as a typical office space in the city, a skyscraper like so many others.

The presence currently situating herself behind a mixing console in said studio is anything but tall, although she ‘makes up for it in tenacity and talent’, as she recounts endlessly at parties and other social gatherings. Day 8 of the current project is ushered in by the band, a small, rag-tag team from some countryside town in New York, jamming aimlessly on various instruments, the most prominent being a bass guitar. The bassist and lead singer’s name, which Nonon had only ever learned through her constantly being chided by the studio’s management, is Ryuko Matoi.

“Yo Snake, you think we can finish this thing today?”

Her voice is on its last legs, the product of a weekend filled with recording and repeating, trying desperately to complete an album that needs to be finished in two days.

“Maybe if you stop fucking around for once and actually make something.”

There is light laughter amongst the bands other three members, whose names Nonon never bothered to learn. The true show lies at bass, and anyone who had seen the explosive singer could testify to that.

“Hey now, what was wrong with my cover of _I Love to Singa_? It’s a classic made even better by rock.”

“You covered a classic and you couldn’t even be bothered to cover a good one? Fuck, Matoi, no wonder you’re so far behind schedule.”

Ryuko puts her hands up as though Nonon were placing her under arrest. “Well, I’m sorry, princess! What would you prefer me to sing? Maybe we should cover some Disney songs?”

Ryuko turns to her band to get approval and she does, each member laughing with her to varying degrees. They’d become accustomed to this banter between their leading woman and their assistant sound editor.

“Hell no, fuckface, the last thing I and the company need is seventeen thousand lawsuits on our ass because you tried to cover _It’s a Small World_.”

“Ew, no, why would I cover that crusty old thing anyway? C’mon Nonon, I think you just need to let it go.”

“Oh, dear god, no-“

Nonon is interrupted as Ryuko and her partners in crime start attempting to compose a garage-band version of _Let it Go_ , led by Ryuko butchering the lyrics horribly and resorting to simply repeating the chorus for every line.

All Nonon can do is put her head in her hands. Recording for this album needs to be completed in two days and they still need to finish recording five of it’s twelve tracks.

She hears the door of the control room open behind her while Ryuko attempts to use her bass as a bongo drum and singing _I Wanna Be Like You_ , her raspy voice surprisingly fitting.

“I’m late, but it looks like I haven’t missed much.”

Taking his seat beside Nonon is Uzu Sanageyama , a sound editor and mixer with Nonon, as well as the main producer for Ryuko’s band.

“Unless you can figure out some way to work around copyright laws, they haven’t done a damn thing.”

Nodding his head in understanding, Uzu pauses before clicking on the microphone that connects the control room to the studio.

“Hey, knock it off!”

His tone is demanding, authoritative, and it works. For the first time that morning, the band is quiet, and all of them look towards the control room expectantly. Uzu fixes them with what would be a steely glare.

It lasts for about five seconds before the band and Uzu himself burst into laughter. A drum kick is played. Nonon just groans.

“Hey, hey, lighten up little lady Jakuzure! We’re just having some fun!”

Nonon turns her chair to look Uzu in the face. He would see the entire expanse of Nonon’s anger, if he could.

“We’ve been ‘having fun’ for the past week. This album needs to be finished recording in two days, you fucking dumbass! We don’t have time for this bullshit. Even a blind man can see that.”

“That’s offensive. Even so, we have more than half of this album done already- we’ll finish it, no worries! We’ll get down to business when we need to.”

Nonon returns to her previous position, looking forward into the studio to see Ryuko using her bass as a fishing pole and ‘catching’ one of the other band members, posing for fake pictures taken by the drummer.

With a long sigh, she finally loosens the angry features of her face, defeated. “I hope you brought a sleeping bag, because we’re going to be in here for a while.”

Uzu smiles. “I left it with my coat.”

After giving a small chuckle, Nonon hops back on the microphone.

“Matoi, you should at least play something decent if you’re going to intensely violate copyright law. Do some _Beauty and the Beast_ or some-“

“JAKUZURE!”

The voice that interrupts her is loud, booming, and creates fuzzy static through the control room microphone despite its distance. It’s instantaneously recognizable, and it inspires fear in everyone- except for Nonon.

“Toad. Good morning.”

“IT IS MOST CERTANLY NOT A GOOD MORNING! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NONSENSE!”

The low octave, yelling voice belongs to Ira Gamagoori, the studio manager and self-titled master of discipline for the studio.

“Do you really have to yell so much? It’s so early-“

“HOW ELSE WOULD I RESPOND TO THIS SITUATION! YOU ARE ON A DEADLINE, JAKUZURE! THERE IS NO TIME FOR THIS TOMFOOLERY!”

Nonon turns back to the doorway where Gamagoori now stands, looming over her and the rest of the control room. Behind her, she doesn’t hear a peep, and it occurs to Nonon that the microphone has been on this entire time. Reaching for it, she mutters. “Yeah guys, just warm up and practice and we’ll get to work in a minute.”

She waits till she hears some chatter before she clicks the microphone off and turns back to Gamagoori. “Nonsense is kind of what this band does. You know that-you wouldn’t have come in here if you didn’t have something else to talk about. So spit it out already!”

Straightening himself, Gamagoori takes a deep breath.

“We have a potential contract coming in later today. From her demo, she’s impressive, but we want to hear her live. Since Matoi’s album is _almost_ finished,” He pauses, emphasis placed on the almost, and Nonon just rolls her eyes, “we’re going to have you work with her, if her trial turns out well. We want you here for that.”

Nodding her head in understanding, Nonon watches as Gamagoori turns to Uzu. “Sanageyama, you will remain working with Matoi as her recording manager, as well as assisting Nonon with the new contract, when she arrives. You are also expected to be at the audition tonight.”

Uzu shakes his head. “You couldn’t have given us more heads up than just hours in advance? We’re trying to finish an album he-“

“THAT IS NOT MY PROBLEM! YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THE PAST WEEK! YOU KNEW THE DEADLINE! YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF FOR THIS TIME CRUNCH!”

Gamagoori’s voice reverberates throughout the control room, which amplifies it with its small size and sound proof walls, and it gives anyone who’s not accustomed to it an instantaneous migraine.

“Oi oi! We get it, man, settle down!”

Gamagoori is approximately two seconds away from bursting a vein in his forehead when Nonon steps in. “What time is this audition happening?”

Taking another inhale, Gamagoori cools down enough to respond in a voice not measuring on the Richter scale. “Five, here. I assume you’ll both still be here, so it won’t be an extra trip. She’ll be in at quarter-to to get settled. Please have these DELINQUINTS,” he emphasizes the word, and Nonon turns back to see that Ryuko has one of her bandmates in a headlock, before turning back to Gamagoori, “cleared out by four thirty. We don’t want to lose another potential contract due to Matoi’s antics. Understood?”

Muttering their acceptance, Uzu and Nonon turn back to the studio and their respective mixing boards while Gamagoori makes a move to exit.

“ONE MORE THING! YOU ARE STILL EXPECTED TO HAVE THIS ALBUM DONE AT THE PROPER TIME! THIS EVENT IS NO EXCUSE! PROCRASTINATION IS A MISTAKE! MISTAKES MADE BY THE BAND YOU MANAGE ARE YOUR MISTAKES, SANAGEYAMA!”

“Yeah yeah Gamagoori, everything is understood. Try not to go into cardiac arrest before the new contract arrives.”

A slam of the door signifies Gamagoori’s exit, and with it, Uzu turns to Nonon. “A new contract, eh? They must be pretty good if Gamagoori is taking it so seriously.”

Nonon focuses on the mixing board in front of her while formulating her response. “Must be. Still, this is my shot. You heard the Toad, if this goes well, she’ll be under my direct supervision.”

Uzu can’t help but smirk at the comment. “The Snake is finally getting her chance, eh? Better keep a close eye on Matoi tonight, then- we both remember what happened last time.”

A serious air overtakes Nonon’s features as she shakes her head. “Like hell I’m going to allow that to happen again. I’ll put Matoi in a fucking cage if I have to. I won’t let this one get away.”

Uzu hums in understanding. “We have an issue to deal with at the moment, though.” As though it were scripted, Ryuko takes a microphone stand to the head of the drummer, resulting in the drummer becoming a crippled heap on the floor.

“Good god,” is all Nonon can say as she takes the mic, “Fuckface! Get your shit together and let’s get to work already.”

* * *

 

Nonon’s apartment is empty when she arrives there for the lunch hour, sans the orange furball that advances to greet her now.

“Hey, Nani.”

She gets a high-pitched meow in return, while the cat rubs against her leg in greeting.

Nonon makes her way to the kitchen, Nani following, mewling at Nonon every step of the way.

“I know, I know, I’m hungry too, you big baby.”

That gets her a lower-pitched growl, and Nonon can’t help but laugh as she sets her bag on the table and scoops food into Nani’s bowl before moving to her refrigerator and picking out a cold sandwich to eat.

Her apartment is modern, having all the creature comforts anyone could ask for and more. Not very spacious, but Nonon doesn’t take up a lot of space, herself. It’s not as though there have exactly been a lot of other people that have needed room, not since she first moved in and got her job at Orange Records and people came over to meet her. A combination of her temperament and her perfectionism in her job doesn’t exactly help her when it comes to wooing people over.

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

Coming from a wealthy family, Nonon was prescribed success from a young age. The moment her fingers hit piano keys, and she smiled, her parents invested in that success. She went to a private, music-oriented high school. She was the drum major for her college’s marching band, starred in every musical, earned scholarships she didn’t need, all because of her musical talent. Her singing ability was always particularly noteworthy, and she earned praise and jealousy from her colleagues with every level she ascended to. She was destined to do great things.

Unfortunately, recording studios and the general public don’t care about your pedigree- if you don’t make things they like, they won’t like or support you. It’s a fact of the business Nonon learned the hard way.

Nonon might regret her decision to pursue a singing career, if she had time for regret. But as the clock on her stove reads 1:45 and opportunity grows closer, she decides that regret is worthless.

An opportunity is all she was asking for. She won’t let this one slip away. Not this time.

She breaks from her train of thought, finishes her lunch and grabs her bag from the table.

“Alright Nani, I probably won’t be seeing you till we finish this album. I’ll make sure Mrs. Salvador next door remembers to feed you at some point. Try not to wreck all of my shit. If anyone other than Mrs. Salvador comes in here, kill them on sight.”

Nonon gets nothing from the cat, who has just settled down to sleep, as she moves towards the door.

“Let’s hope this audition goes well…” she adds on quietly, stepping through the doorway and into the hall.

* * *

 

The next time Nonon looks at the clock, it reads 4:25, and the band has just finished clearing out of the studio. A welcomed break, as they had actually put their minds to working since that morning’s run-in with Gamagoori. At the rate they were going, they might actually finish in advance of their deadline. Might being the keyword.

Various interns and studio crew take to Studio 3, cleaning it, reconfiguring it from a setup for a four-piece band to that of a solo artist, and Nonon takes a deep breath.

“Nervous, Nonon?”

“The fuck do you think, monkey?”

“I’m going to chalk that reply up to stress, rather than personality. Although they seem to be one in the same.”

It takes all of Nonon’s strength to not throw something at Uzu, who flinches instinctively anyway. Nonon contemplates the cost of various projectiles around the control room, including time required to deliver replacements, when the door opens behind her.

“Gamagoori, we know she’s coming in fifteen minutes, we can’t do shit about how long the cleaning crew is taking, go yell at them-“

“Dang, shortie, take it easy for once, would you?”

Nonon’s stomach drops instantly at the sound of the raspy voice she’s been surrounded by the entire day.

“Oh no. Hell no. Get out of here, Matoi. Go eat or some shit. You aren’t going anywhere _near_ this audition.”

Ryuko lets out a whistle as she takes more steps into the control room, sitting on a small ledge in front of one of the mixing boards. “So hostile. Like I said, chill out, Snake. I’m not gonna wreck anything, alright? How could I even wreck something from here?”

On cue, Ryuko leans back on her palms, coming in contact with half a dozen buttons and knobs and producing a high-pitched squealing throughout the studio. Several pieces of equipment are dropped as crew members move their hands to cover their ears from the whining. Nonon’s chair finds itself on the other side of the room as she bolts out of it and attempts to resolve the situation. She grabs Ryuko and throws her off of the ledge and onto the ground.

After about 15 seconds of franticly trying to diagnose the problem and correct it, accentuated by Uzu’s cries of pain from the corner, Nonon is finally able to get the noise to stop. Everyone in the room let’s out a collective sigh of relief, sans Nonon, who turns around to face Ryuko, looking down upon her.

Ryuko has never been a stranger to trouble, including various run-ins with security and law enforcement on different tours while she worked her way to this record deal. Not once had she ever felt true fear in any of those shenanigans, opting instead for keeping things light-hearted and easy.

Seeing Nonon’s face here makes her shake.

“Get the fuck out of here.”

“I-it was an accident, I swear.”

“It was an accident?? Like the Blue Moon accident, right?? ‘Just an accident’ that cost us a fucking client! Do you REALLY think I’m going to allow that to happen again? Probably, because you’re a FUCKING moron! Don’t you know what you could have done?!”

“Hey now, the Blue Moon accident was as much your fault as mine. Maybe mor-“

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS DELINQUENCY!?”

Gamagoori’s voice booms from the hallway, arriving briefly before the man himself as he steps through the door of the control room. “WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INSUFFERABLE NOISE POLLUTION THAT OCCURRED MOMENTS AGO? SPEAK NOW!”

If Ryuko was afraid of Nonon before, she was terrified of Gamagoori now. It was hard not to be when the man towered as high as the ceiling itself, and seemed to be growing larger with every syllable he yelled.

“It was the shithead, who the fuck else would do something that dumb?”

“Don’t fucking listen to her, it was completely uninten-“

“SILENCE! MATOI! YOU HAVE DISOBEYED MY ORDERS TO VACATE THE PREMISES!”

A small voice emerges from the corner. “Relax, Gamagoori, I gave her permission to be in here.”

“YOU WHAT?” Gamagoori and Nonon exclaim in unison, turning to Uzu in disbelief. He responds simply by waving them off.

“She begged to be here. I didn’t think it was really fair that we let our only contracted artist not know what’s happening with the studio, so I said she could stay. No biggie- I’m sure she’ll be on her best behavior from here on out.”

To accentuate his point, Ryuko nods her head vigorously and gives Gamagoori a double-thumbs up.

Gamagoori pauses, narrowing his eyes at her and Nonon’s jaw drops.

“VERY WELL! YOU ARE TO OBSERVE THE AUDITION FROM THE BACK OF THE CONTROL ROOM! IF YOU SO MUCH AS UTTER A PEEP, YOU WILL BE DISMISSED! YOU AS WELL, SANAGEYAMA!”

Nodding her head again, Ryuko hustles to the back of the room, locating an old box used for storage and situating herself on it.

Nonon stutters in disbelief. “No fucking way! She can’t be in here!”

“JAKUZURE! YOU ARE TO RECORD THE AUDITION AS INSTRUCTED!! IF YOU ARE SO WEAK AS TO ALLOW SMALL DISTRACTIONS TO IMPEDE UPON YOUR WORK, THAN YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF THE POSITION OFFERED!”

This time, Nonon is on the receiving end of Gamagoori’s intimidating stare, and Nonon isn’t in a position to respond.

Gamagoori turns on his heels, heading for the door before stopping and looking back at the three of them, his tone dropping.

“Ms. Kiryuin will be in the studio in approximately five minutes. You are all to be on your best behavior. There is no room for mistakes today.”

The three of them hum in understanding, and when Gamagoori closes the door behind him, Nonon grabs a spare microphone from the floor near her and fires it immediately in Uzu’s direction. He dodges it, as Nonon expected him too, so by the time he returns to his resting position, a stapler is on its way. This one he can’t evade, and it hits him square in the nose.

“What the _fuck_ were you thinking, you god damn stupid fucking piece of shit monkey?! What the _fuck_ are you trying to do?!”

“Hey now! It’s not my fucking fault that you have no faith in your coworkers!’

Nonon’s preparing to fire a mechanical pencil sharpener at Uzu’s head when she hears a clicking in the distance, getting louder. She lowers the sharpener and looks through the connecting window into the studio, as do the others.

The door to the studio opens, and first one to arrive in the room is Houka, making last second preparations to the equipment and rigging his laptop to the filming equipment surrounding the performance area. The next is Iori, assisting Houka. Gamagoori follows them, somehow able to regain his composure and an air of professionalism in the minutes since leaving the chaos that was the control room. He stares into the room now, making sure to give both Uzu and Nonon a look. His eyes widen a bit when he sees Uzu’s nose, bleeding and swollen.  Nonon swears he gives her a little nod, approving, but no one else notices.

“Jakuzure. Sanageyama. Please prepare to record.”

“Of course.”  

With that, both Uzu and Nonon begin adjusting sliders, tuning various gauges, and flipping switches. Nonon becomes so involved with her preparations that she almost doesn’t notice when the clicking finally reaches the studio.

She looks up, trying to distinguish the source of the noise, and she finds the origin at a pair of high heels. Her eyes travel up the woman’s body, ending on her face. Cold, blue eyes, complimented by full eyebrows and serious features compose the girl, and her beauty and authority is enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

“Nonon, stop staring and help me finish setting this up.”

Uzu’s voice breaks Nonon out of her trance, and she puts her head down and works quickly to finish what she’s doing, trying to conceal the redness that creeps up her face and muttering “How would you even know I was staring…”

“Your breath caught. That usually doesn’t happen unless something catches you by surprise.”

“Whatever, that’s creepy as fuck.”

“I don’t blame you, she’s fucking hot.”

Hearing Ryuko talk for the first time since being reprimanded by Gamagoori, Nonon shoots her a look.

“Don’t you dare talk about my future artist that way.”

“Oh please. I was just saying what you were thinking.”

A grunt from the studio forces Nonon to look forward again, and Gamagoori stares daggers at the girl before turning to the tall woman situating herself behind the microphone in the center of the studio.

“Are the accommodations to your liking, Ms. Kiryuin?” he asks.

“Perfect. Thank you, Gamagoori.”

Gamagoori gives a small bow. “Do you need time to warm up?”

She shakes her head, explaining that she was warming up when the studio was being prepped. “I’m ready to record when you’ll have me.”

“Very well. Jakuzure, is everything ready to go?”

Nonon looks up, scanning the studio, her eyes once again landing on those cool blues before scrambling to look anywhere else. “Ready.”

Gamagoori asks the various other employees scattered throughout the room for confirmation, and when he receives the go-ahead from all parties, he signals to Nonon.

Before Nonon begins the session, she pauses. The weight of everything presses on her. Nerves, opportunity, hopes and dreams- she’s not sure what’s stopping her. She looks up into the studio again, and everyone is looking at her expectantly, waiting.

Everyone except the woman behind the microphone. She’s determined, fierce. Her eyes find Nonon’s, and a beat passes. Two beats, and she smirks at the girl. The hesitation leaves Nonon immediately.

She begins the recording, and she swears she hears Ryuko chuckle behind her. She’s about to turn around and reprimand her when the artist’s voice hits her ears for the first time. It’s full-bodied, deep but flexible as she sings, and it causes Nonon’s breath to catch. The bass is low, but the tempo is quick, and it would be a challenge for even the best of singers to be able to master a song like this. But she sings it with heart, and she sings it well.

Nonon forgets about disciplining Ryuko and she falls speechless throughout the performance. All Nonon can do is watch and listen, and for the fifteen minutes this audition lasts, she has to remind herself to breathe.

The performance ends with a high note, blending seamlessly with the instruments backing that voice until it gradually dies off.

The moments after are the most silent Nonon has ever heard the studio be, and she almost forgets to stop the recording.

Ryuko is the first to break the silence in the control room, as moderate applause end the silence in the studio.

“Damn. She’s alright. What’d you say her name was, again?”

It’s Uzu who answers her, “Kiryuin. Satsuki Kiryuin.”

Nonon looks into the studio and sees Gamagoori, Houka, and some other Orange Records employees surrounding the girl. “Satsuki…” She whispers to herself, unconsciously focusing her vision on the woman.

It’s then that Satsuki turns around, finding Nonon staring at her. This time, Nonon can’t react quickly enough to look away, and Satsuki gives her a small wink before turning back to her conversation with the boys.

If she were standing, Nonon would have fainted.

* * *

 


End file.
